


A Mutual Agreement

by blondebadwolf



Series: A Mutual Agreement [1]
Category: Frozen (2013)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2014-05-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 22:40:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blondebadwolf/pseuds/blondebadwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In order to help Anna and Kristoff, Elsa enters into an agreement of marriage with Hans.  Right now it's PG, but will be E in a couple of chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bargaining with the Devil

**Author's Note:**

> I am looking for a beta. Please let me know if you know anyone who will be interested.

Elsa took a deep breath and focused on the air expanding and leaving her rib cage. But the motion did little to calm the swarm of angry bees inside her stomach. As she grasped the doorknob she tried to still her shaking hands. She wasn’t very surprised when the doorknob froze beneath her fingertips. She looked down at the cold gold, seeing the cracks already starting to form and she forced herself to think of the reason she was doing this. Anna, Kristoff, her kingdom. When she grasped the doorknob again, the ice melted, dripping down the doorframe and the knob turned easily for her. The hinges creaking resounded throughout the small space and off every book on the walls, but he remained hunched in a corner with his back to her.

Her heart was beating so loud it echoed throughout the library. “No more.” She thought to herself. She ran her hands down her red velvet dress. It was scandalous- if Anna’s disdainful expression that morning was anything to go by. But Elsa decided if she was going to make a deal with the devil, she might as well look the part. And somehow the low cut, skin tight dress gave her the courage to clear her throat and hold her head up a little higher.

“When they said I was going to meet Her Majesty of Arendelle, I figured it would be the short gullible one.” He said, his nose still in a book.

“Try not to be too disappointed.”

“I see you brought the weather with you as always, Your Majesty. I did think you would have that under control by now.”

Elsa allowed herself to walk over to the one window in the small room. She saw her snow slowly floating down to the icy ground below and smiled to herself. “I do. I just wanted to announce my presence.”

“How thoughtful of you.” The room fell silent again, so that the clock above the fireplace ticking was the only thing that could be heard. She waited until he finally put the book back on the shelf and turned to look at her. His brown eyes, even when appearing bored and aloof still seemed to hold a genuine kindness about them. It was a shame his eyes were just as effective at lying as he was.

“So do Queens make it a priority to check in on all bookshop owners?”

“Only the ones that have personally tried to murder me.”

He nodded, his face blank. “So this is a check up?”

Not feeling brave enough yet to divulge the reason behind her visit she quickly changed subjects. “I had heard that you had been all but disowned by your family.” He continued to stare at her blankly. “I have sources. Yet rumor has it your family requires you to attend every ball of the Southern Isle’s in Prince apparel.”

“ I’m better at keeping up appearances than some people we know Ice Queen.” She could see the subtle smile on his face.

“I didn’t come here to exchange funny jokes.”

“I promise I wouldn’t dare try to amuse you, Your Highness.”

They stared at each other and Elsa tried to remember why she was doing this. She pictured an angel and a devil arguing in her head, but she wasn't sure which side the angel would be arguing for. Suddenly she understood why Kristoff frequently talked to himself in silly voices. With voices you could hear see which argument held more indignation or righteous tones about it. 

“So what do you want?” The question took her back for a second.

“Excuse me?”

“With your sources you wouldn’t feel the need to come all the way here just to check up on me. When they told me you were coming I figured it would be your sister to try to save my soul, or at least showing up blubbering demanding to know my intentions of the past.”

“I promise I wouldn’t dare try to understand your intentions.” She muttered, but she could tell he heard her.

“So if I am not to expect a lecture, what can I expect?”

Elsa took another breathe. “I have a proposition for you.”

“No.” He got up quickly and started stacking books on a bookshelf on the other side of the room. He didn’t seem to be looking at the titles of books, just shoving them in places for the sake of doing something.

“Pardon?”

“I said no.”

“You don’t know what it is I was going to ask.”

“I don’t care.”

“But-” Elsa sputtered. He turned to her, his eyes flashing, all traces of niceness left behind.

“You are not my queen, I don’t have to obey you.”

Elsa knew she shouldn’t feel shock at this reaction, after all they did foil his plans of obtaining the throne, they got him kicked out of his palace home, and overall probably made his life a little harder. So she quickly stood up and started to the door. As soon as she reached it, she felt herself pause. The doorknob was still metal, no ice or anything around it. Her emotions calm.

“Aren’t you a little bit curious as to what it was I was going to ask?” She looked at him. If he was surprised by her, his face didn’t show it.

“No.”

She nodded and started to walk out the door, already trying to figure out if she was feeling relief or disappointment when his voice stopped her.

“You probably want me to slay some dragon or kill some ice monster that you built that threatens the land.”

Elsa allowed herself to backtrack and catch his gaze with a raised eyebrow. He nodded at her and his hands suddenly started moving as he further explained. “You need someone to kill it and seeing as I’m handsome, brave, and ridiculously strong, I am the only hope.”

Elsa sputtered out a laugh. She couldn’t help smirking when he looked at her with confusion.

“Oh Hans. There goes your promise not to amuse me.”

A look of annoyance passed across his face, “Look, all I know is that it makes sense. You need someone whose life is expendable to you for something. It’s the only reason you would come to me. And any agreement with you is sure to end in death and destruction.”

Elsa nodded, and felt herself take another deep breath. She bunched the dark red velvet in her fists and this time it held no comfort for what she was about to do. She wondered if her voice would sound like the voice of an angel or a devil when finally voiced. 

“I have come to ask you to marry me.”


	2. Unwritten Rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh! You guys are so sweet! Thank you so much for your comments. Have you ever had an idea you wanted someone else to write but no one was writing it? That is this story for me. I think it would be way better with a different author- but I am trying my hardest to improve, and get better. Also I am still looking for a beta. Someone to not only help with grammar and sentence structure but also to tell me what is working and what isn't.
> 
> This part is going back four months before the last chapter to show how Elsa got in that situation. Sorry for those out there that want me to get on with the show but the next four chapters for plot purposes are going to be about K/A. If you leave me nice comments I might write more frequently so we can get on to the good stuff?

They hadn’t talked. And frankly, it baffled him. How could two people go from thinking of each other as true love in a moment of crisis to not discussing it all? Yes, they talked. They talked about everything- things he didn’t even want to discuss. Anna was like that- a perpetual open book. She told him everything- from the rash she got on her foot at age four to her fantasy when she was ten that she was going to marry a dragon. No she talked to him, but any time the subject even broached the nature of their relationship her face would go blank. She would quickly change the subject to something safer, or she would just stop talking all together. The only wall in Anna’s life was him, or anything to do with him. 

 

He gave her time. At first he understood it was probably a lot to take. It wasn’t every day someone found out their sister had magic powers, almost got killed by that sister, and then almost got murdered by her own fiancé who also tried to kill said sister. He didn’t think anyone in her position would be ready to navigate any type of relationship anytime soon. So he took her cue, half expecting her to distance herself from him while she and her sister figured out how to not only restore their relationship but also the kingdom. But Anna didn’t distance herself from him physically. She created palace events that somehow only he attended, tasks only he could help with around the castle, and insisted he spend his dinners with her every night. Soon he was spending most days inside the castle; her arm twined in his, looking up at him like he had personally hung the stars for her. He and Sven both had their own personal rooms and before he knew it he had become a part of the castle like the ivy wallpaper in the hidden kitchen, or the brass candle holders by the front door. He was there daily watching the two sisters reconnect, and try to establish common footing with each other. He and Sven were part of every snowball fight, every family dinner, and most palace events. But she never did anything more than smile at him and it was starting to drive him slightly crazy. 

A month or so had passed, yet very little had changed. He looked around the room that they were gathered in. The girls had told him it was called the blue drawing room. It looked to Kristoff like every other room in the palace- a spacious room with mahogany furnishings and a fireplace on the opposite main wall. But it was of course blue as the name so rightfully suggested. He wondered if that was the only way for them to distinguish between all the other drawing rooms they had. Anna and Olaf were on the perch in front of the fireplace telling stories he could only hear faint snippets of. He could perfectly hear her high pitched giggles bouncing off the walls, and see the light from the fire place setting her face aglow in warm orange patches. Elsa and Kristoff were in a corner pretending to play cards. 

Kristoff’s relationship with Elsa had never been easy. It had never been hard either. She hadn’t really allowed it be anything. They spent most of their days together- bonded by the one person they had in common, but Kristoff had a feeling Elsa didn’t like or approve of him. Oh she never said it. She never really said anything to him. She spoke mainly to Anna and the occasional sentence to Olaf. She was kind to him, and warm, but always aloof. It was like they were two stars in the sky; they sat next to each other, always living in the same atmosphere, but never touching or interacting. 

 

Out of the corner of his eye Kristoff saw Anna looking at them. Elsa then put a 2 of diamonds and an 8 of hearts on the table. Kristoff allowed himself to look at them for a second before putting down a 3 of hearts and a 2 of spades. It meant nothing in any card game, but Elsa- who had the least amount of cards in her hand took the cards and put them in her deck carefully. They both looked at Anna who beamed back her approval and turned back to Olaf, her voice rising in pitch. Elsa and Kristoff both knew their bonding meant something to Anna, so they kept up pretenses for her. But, they also had an unspoken agreement. 

Anna’s energy never died- whether it be at two in the morning or six. But both Kristoff and Elsa couldn’t keep up. Anna was unable to sit still without wanting to go explore the castle, tell scary ghost stories or have an epic pillow fight even when the two people closest to her just wanted to sit by the fire in silence. So they sometimes found ways to recharge their batteries while still being close to her. He waited for Elsa to play a card, and when she didn’t he put the three cards on the left stack of his cards down without looking at them. He waited a couple of moments for her to make some move, and when she didn’t he allowed himself to look out the window where her gaze was focused. He watched as the window iced over, frost covering the panel and the hinges. But within a measure of seconds the window had thawed itself and all that was left was smudges of water. Kristoff quickly looked away, not wanting to alert Elsa that he had seen her doing such. As soon as Elsa had chosen three cards, the table was bumped and the cards fell to the floor. It took Kristoff a second to realize it was Anna’s speedy figure that had bumped the table and was now flying out the hall. Both Kristoff and Elsa, looked at each other with confusion and ran after her.

He watched, as if in slow motion, as her figure retreated down the long hallway. She got three doorways away until she keeled over and threw up on the ground beneath her. Kristoff could hear Elsa’s gasp of surprise but he hardly registered it because he was running fast to where Anna was gagging again.  
After a couple of heaves she allowed Kristoff to pull her into his lap and stroke her hair. She moaned and nuzzled her face into his chest. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“It’s all over the carpet.” He allowed himself to brush a hair out of her face and look at her. Her eyes held shame, but he was more worried about the greenish tint to her face.

“I don’t care. It’s not my carpet. That’s the problem with having bathrooms so far apart it just makes it so that every time-“ She moaned again and grabbed her stomach in pain.

“Anna. Are you okay?” He looked up and saw Elsa’s eyes flashing in fear. Anna shook her head and bunched her fist up tightly into Kristoff’s shirt. 

“I don’t feel so good.” Kristoff looked at Elsa for some cue to go off of. When she didn’t give any, he continued to stoke Anna’s hair off of her forehead. He tried to keep it from matting up around her hairline where sweat was starting to form. 

“Let’s get you to bed then.” He said decisively and picked her up in his arms. He noticed a look of discomfort flit across Elsa’s face and her body tense up. He looked at her expectantly and she held his gaze for a couple of moments before turning around. He assumed she was leading the way to Anna’s bedroom so he followed her with his arms tight around Anna. Anna continued to tilt her body into his and he could feel her chest move against his chest with every breath. They went up stairs and down halls, the faraway looks of the two girls ancestors marking a path he couldn’t remember if his life depended on it. When they got to Anna’s room he laid her on her periwinkle comforter. She whimpered and reached her hand out for him. He looked to Elsa, expecting her once again to do something or take over. And instead of the steely reserved gaze he saw wide eyes and a frown. He recognized the look from the first time he had met her at her ice palace. It was Elsa's look of pure terror. She shook her head at him,slowly backing out of the room but he had no idea what she was trying to tell him. Was she nervous for alone time with Anna? About being a caretaker? Or was she merely worried for Anna? It wasn’t until she looked down at her bare hands that he understood. The way she inspected them, as if something might jump out of them at any second, and knowing her something very well might have. She was afraid of herself when it came to Anna still. If she couldn’t completely control her powers when she was awake, what would she do when she was asleep next to Anna? They couldn’t let Anna sleep by herself in the state she was in. 

“Kristoff?” Anna asked her voice sounding weak. He could tell she was dizzy by the way her eyes couldn’t seem to focus in the room around her. 

“I’m here.” He assured. 

“Don’t leave me.”

Kristoff looked to Elsa and he could see that her jaw had tightened, but he also saw her nod at him. 

“I won’t.”


	3. Present Negotiating

The room stilled. Hans just stared at her, not even blinking, and the fireplace even seemed to have stopped in that second. Elsa wondered if everything in the room was frozen in that instant. It did seem like something her subconscious would do to stop her from entering in this moment. Hans eyes were wide, and his lips were closed, but she could tell his jaw wasn’t. She had a feeling it was one of the first uncalculated facial expressions his face had made lately. But after what seemed to be an entire minute Hans stood up straighter, blinked, and tightened his jaw. 

“So I was right about imminent death and destruction.”

“Of course there are outlined terms and conditions.”

“With a love as true as ours, I am sure there would have to be.” 

“And while it isn’t your vision of how you would rule Arandelle, there are many reasons it would still be advantageous to you.”

“As long as I still get an entire room full of albino peacocks.”

If it had been a year before Elsa would have screamed in frustration, or accidentally crystallized something at that point. But as it was her breathing was even, and her fingers were content at her sides. She didn’t feel any nerve endings tensing or twitching the way she did before the ice storms. She just felt a strange assurance that she was doing the right thing. Hans was watching her, calculating her every movement, her every response. She should have felt annoyed by it, but it instead gave her the confidence to raise her eyebrows at him. 

“Who would have known the little Ice Queen was easy to get after all?” He murmured. “Was that why you exploded the first time? Couldn’t help but get angry at the munchkin sister when you were aching to see what was in her fiancés trousers?”

Elsa laughed for the second time, marveling at how discordant the sound of her laugh was- low and gravely. 

“I wouldn’t dare get my hopes up about something that was destined to be so very disappointing.”

His eyes narrowed and Elsa wondered what she must look like to him right now. She wondered if he saw a girl or a woman staring back at him. “But you still are curious to find out.” She threw her shoulders back, and let herself wander about his space. It was something her father had taught her about trade negotiations- always act like every space is already yours. So she allowed herself to walk across the room and pick up a small book entitled The Fall in the Isles in small script on it’s red hardcover. She slowly turned it over in her hands, opening the book to the first page as her father would have done. Dust and the smell of must seemed to radiate from the pages. 

“While I don’t have a problem getting married for the crazy wild fantasies you have about me- I think your Kingdom might. Especially considering, that it’s well….me.”

Elsa tried to read the first words on the page, but couldn’t focus on them. 

“Unless they never heard what happened?” 

The words continued to dance in front of her vision, begging to be understood, to be her source of distraction, to maybe even give her the answers to his question. But both her mind and her mouth stayed silent.

“Oh my mother is good.” He laughed, getting his answer from her silence. She put the book down on the shelf, and a cloud of dust seemed to explode around her. 

“Your town is one of our biggest partners in trade. Your mother, Her Majesty, thought it wouldn’t be wise to let word get out to my people or to nearby Kingdoms. We wouldn’t want your throne to be judged for the fault of one person.” 

He coughed, but she couldn’t be sure whether or not it was the dust. Suddenly his gaze became predatory and he slowly starting creeping towards her. “That must have been hard. A whole town sees the youngest princess engaged to a young stud of a prince who devotes himself to the well being of people, and then one day he is gone.” He made a wild gesture with his hands, alluding to some type of magic. “There must have been a lot of unanswered questions.”

“You overestimate your charm.”

“And you, my dear, underestimate it.” Suddenly he was right behind her, his breathe cold on her neck. 

“I doubt it.” 

“So when, in this story, the fetching prince disappeared he was missed by a Kingdom full of people hoping that they would get a royal family opposed to one little girl with the ability to make ponds. And then I’m assuming the trading options started to become narrower and narrower.”

“Why would you assume that?” 

“Because a woman ruling a kingdom by herself is looked down upon. Especially if that woman is proven to be…..” He brushed her braid off of her shoulder and she could feel his touch light as a spider trailing across her skin. Elsa quickly inched herself away from him and the bookshelf in front of her. “Emotional.” He smirked at her and she cursed herself for letting him seem to get the better of her. 

“While I’m having a ball listening to your speculations…”

“I’m merely trying to figure out what I would be walking into.” 

“An offer better than any other you are likely to receive.”

“What are the stipulations?”

“You are to merely be a figure head. You will not be present at any meetings with any diplomats or make any political decisions unless I decide I want to pretend the decision came from you. Every action will be run through me first. I have informed many of my informants of your charm and ambitions and warned them of your feets tendencies to step out of line. If you do anything to betray me, or Arandelle there are people both in this Kingdom and outside of it to kill you at a moments notice. Your death will be made to seem like an accident.”

“What purpose would I serve to you dead?”

“Actually a much better one than alive.” She answered honestly.

“The people will feel sorry for you, the window, and be ready to fight for their dead king. You wouldn’t be expected to marry again and the loss will make you seem tougher and wiser.” He finished for her. 

“And in the instance where I die before you, I warn you your death will follow shortly after.”

“What if you fall tomorrow and hit your head?” 

“Then you will mysteriously die as well.”

“Hardly seems fair.”

“It provides insurance both to my well being and my kingdom.”

“So that Anna, regardless of who she marries will be able to take the Kingdom with little questions asked.”

“And the Kingdom will continue through her lineage.”

“And ours?”

“We will have no children.” 

He nodded like this wasn’t a surprise to him. And she was sure it wasn’t. 

“Sex?”

“You are crazy if you assume that we-“

“Calm down Snow Temper. While I am confident you will one day be begging me to experience things you have so far only dreamed of” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I am merely asking if I, or you even, could have sex with other people.”

“You may, if I have met and approved them.”

“What do you expect me to do? Come home and say, ‘Hey Baby, this is the girl I’m going to shack up with tonight. That cool?’”

“Yes. I do. I want to be aware of who has the ability to spread the rumors, and go straight to the source if your urges cause dissention in the Kingdom.”

“What about your urges?” His voice was low and she tried to not let it disarm her. 

“Will be none of your business.”

“What about the wedding night? You do know it is customary to have someone assure it was consummated correct?” She had thought about that, many times in fact. But she hadn’t gotten far enough to figure out what to do about it yet. 

“We will come up with a plan. I am hardly worried.”

“So what will be my duties?”

“Attend every palace function, make speeches, and try to stay out of my way.”

“Interesting terms.”

 

“Do you agree to them?”

“I would like time to think about them.”

“No.”

“A prince doesn’t make a decision on a whim. I would need time to draft my stipulations.”

“As far as I remember Princes also aren’t quarantined in bookshops. You will have no stipulations. This is a one time offer. If you agree, we will go meet your mother right now and tell her the news, and then be back to Arandelle tonight.”

“But it’s already seven at night.”

“I didn’t know you had a bed time.”

“I didn’t know you liked to be up so late at night.”

“I didn’t realize the hours I keep were any of your concern. We are wasting time. Your answer?”

“I have requirements.”

“I will be off then. Goodnight.”

“Wait…” He sounded desperate, and although she owed him nothing she was curious as to what he would say. “I am fine being a pawn. I will forever be your subordinate however I ask when it comes to dealing with my brothers- let me appear like the one in power.”

She opened her mouth to argue but his finger was on her lips to hush her. His eyes searched hers desperately, as if looking for something inside her pupils that would understand. She marveled how dark his pupils were. “You can make all decisions, I will not go to any meeting without you, I will not say anything you don’t approve of before hand. But let me seem to be the one with the words, even if they do come from your brain.”

She thought about it carefully before nodding yes. She was fine letting him be the public figure in charge to his relatives, and she had ways to ensure that he wouldn’t be able to abuse that power. 

“Also I require that you do not accept my mothers gift of three of her government officials.”

Elsa raised an eyebrow.

“She will offer you three people, claiming that they will keep me in line, or help you with the kingdom, or something of the sort. You. Must. Refuse. Them. Do you understand me?”

“How do I know they won’t keep you in line?” 

She expected him to come back with witty banter, or some joke about his inability to be tamed but instead he just kept staring back at her intensely like there was something she was supposed to be comprehending but wasn’t.

“Look I know…. I mean…. “ As the sentences continues to trail off she could feel him starting to become more aggravated. But what surprised her the most was the anger seemed to be directed at himself. “What I need…Please just tr-“ Trust him he was about to say, but seemed to catch himself and realize what an impossible thing he was asking her. “Please just say you won’t.”

“I won’t.” 

He breathed a sigh of relief and Elsa couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to double cross her already. Before she could question it he was smiling up at her. 

“What about a rule that you have to share your bedchambers with me once, just to see if you like it?”

“I’d rather share my chambers with a troll.”

“As I recall your sister already has one.” At the mention of Anna his face seemed to scrunch up unpleasantly. “Can I ask for some type of protection from that one?”

“Still hurt from last time?” She smiled at the thought of Anna’s fist colliding with his face. 

“No. Can we just have some type of rule that she can’t aim below the belt?”

“You won’t be needing it.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. 

“I will talk to her. But I will keep you out of her way at all costs.”

“So about those albino birds?”

“I am done negotiating with you.” She said decidedly and he nodded. “We are off to the palace.”

He took a deep breath and muttered quietly “Oh goody.”

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will explain how she got herself in this situation, and a little bit of smut between Anna and Kristoff.


End file.
